A Good Day for Wolf

It was actually a good day for the Dodgers. They routed the Reds with a score of 12-3. Randy Wolf had a quality start and plenty of run support.. My friend Linda seems to think it is the wolf hat that she insists on wearing when Randy is pitching. I really don’t know. Sometimes I’m not sure if I want her to sit near me when she wears that thing.. It is a little scary. But then again I have my little routine I have to go through before and during the game as well.

The above picture is of Randy Wolf warming up before the game. He seems to be more clean shaven. Maybe that will give him his first win..

Yesterday was Jason Schmidt’s first start in two years. He has been on DL that long after shoulder surgery and rehab. On DL for two seasons is a long time. He did surprisingly well and did have his second win in two years. He doesn’t have his velocity but he did get through 5 innings. He gave up 3 runs in the first inning. Gulp. Not good. I confess I started to worry about how long Jason would last. I have to coness that I did have a longer entry but I forgot to save it and lost it all. Considering it’s getting late, I had to rewrite it but in condensed version. Sigh, and it was the best one I have ever written. I had to say that.

Ultimately the Dodgers scored some runs and they won the game. Jason said that he just pitched what Russell called for. He did say he was a bit nervous. Pitching in the Bigs is definitely different than in the Minors. He felt fine the day after so that is good news. .

This is a picture of Jason warming up before the game on Monday night..

Tonights game did have a down side to it. Manny was hit in the left hand by a pitch thrown by Homer Bailey. Manny left the game and was taken to Huntington hospital in Pasadena where xrays revealed no fracture. He will be day to day. Judging from all the wild pitches that Bailey threw after that, I think possibly that shook him up. At first I thoiught he hit Manny on purpose. But those wild pitches made me think that Homer had control issues. So Homer allowed homers.

Here is a picture of Manny before the incident. He made some fine defensive plays last night.

I was happy to see Orlando Hudson back in the game. He did not play yesterday after hyperextending his surgically repaired left wrist two days ago.

Andre was back iin the game again afterr that injury scare two days ago.

At least none of the injuries put anyone on DL.

Injury update: Kuo may be back by the end of the month. He pitched a scoreless inning with two strikeouts in Class 2. I would love to see Kuo back. What a fighter

Dougie Baseball who dislocated his shoulder earlier in the season is doing extremely well and may return on August 4. He is on rehab assignment.

The facts:

The Dodgers are now 26 games over 500.

The Dodgers have the best record of any MLB team

The Dodgers are 9 games in front in the Western Division

I love to say that the Dodgers are a team of heroes. Each of the guys take turns being the hero of the day. That means that there is no one superstar on the team. We have Manny Ramirez, the only real recognizable name. Our team is made up of youngsters from our farm system: Martin, Kemp, Loney, Kershaw, Billingsley, Broxton, DeWitt, Elbert, McDonald, the list goes on. Then there are the chances that the management took on Orlando Hudson with his season ending left wrist dislocation from last year. Raffy Furcal with his season ending back surgery. We have Andre Ethier obtained in trade for bad boy Milton Bradley. Did we get the better end of the deal. We have Jeff Weaver and Eric Milton who were given another chance. Belisario who came from who knows where. Mota who returned to the Dodgers. It is a patchwork team who seems to play well together. It is in part because they actually have fun playing together. They celebrate each others homeruns, hits, RBIs. My favorite part of the game is at the end when there is a Dodger victory, the guys in the outfield give each other chest bumps, and then go on to give the others high fives, hugs, etc. In the background you can hear “I Love LA.” I do love my Dodgers.

Here are a few pictures I took tonight at the game

Here is Russell walking to home plate before the game.

One of the plays yesterday

My very good looking security person who makes sure I don’t jump onto the field.

Wait a minute, hold on here. You forgot my pictures.

I will end my entry with my usual Andre pix. Almost forgot. Thanks Andre.

.

a little stretching

Yikes, more stretching

Okay, enough stretching Andre

Tomorrow night we will see if the Dodgers can sweep the Reds. Hopefully Manny is okay. It really bothers me when one of my players is hurt. So far, many injuries in the past few games but none serious. And then Wednesday night is Manny Bobblehead night, sold out for days. I hope Manny is well enough to at least be with the guys.

Great news. I will be meeting Jane Heller, the famous author and writer of the number one MLBlog Confessions of a She Fan. http://janeheller.mlblogs.com. She has written a book with the same name. She will be a guest of the Dodgers and will be sitting in the famous Dugout Club on Friday. It also is Fireworks night to the music of Elvis Presley. . Thanks to Josh Rawich who was instrumental in this fantastic opportunity for Jane and her husband I expect a nice food writeup, Jane.

Thanks to everyone for supporting my blog. It gives me great pleasure to write it and to read your posts. GO DODGERS!!!

Cat – we are developing quite a menagerie on the Dodgers. We have a wolf, a bison and an ox. Wolf pitched well yesterday. We also read it was only the Reds but on a given day any team can beat another. I like Joey Votto on the Reds as he is another Canadian doing well in MLB. Keep the wolf hat going Linda. Cat remember Zobie’s tank top, the poncho – whatever works. Just pretend you have Linda out for the day.

I will be happy when the trade deadline passes. I don’t like all the speculation about trades. I know we can use some additional SP but not at the cost of morgaging the farm totally. I know Roy would be just what the doctor ordered but perhaps in the bigger picture the cure might be worse than the ailment. I would expect us to pick up a Washburn or Zach Duke type pitcher. In the final analysis our pitching success depends on Chad and Clayton and their progression. One additional starter would not move mountains, just as Manny can’t do it without our young players playing well.

CAT
The games vs. the REDS have been amazing and very fun to watch. It does sucks that our boys are getting hurt…Hudson, Andre and now Manny….OUCH! But we have tough boys. Thank God!.
Well like always I enjoy your pictures. And of course Andre stretching out….mmm mmm mmmmm! Martin always looking good. And oh yeah the security Person is VERY goooood looking. And with security like that…I would try to jump onto the field….HOLD ME BACK….LOL!
Well you and Jane have fun at the game. Is it a book? I have to check it out.

I agree with the others: Linda should keep wearing the hat if it works. Don’t mess with success! I like your description of the “patchwork” quality to the Dodgers this year. And yes, I think Ethier for Bradley turned out pretty well for you guys – an understatement. Looking forward to Friday.

I can’t say too much about how Andre, Matt, Russell etc. turned out but I do think they would clean up quite well if they found a razor. lol. I don’t quite understand the modern day shaggy look for ball players, or other pro athletes.

Harold, Clayton’s haircut didn’t hurt his pitching. I think they do look better with less shagginess.
Thanks Tribechick. I wonder if they should have applied that mercy rule.
Rosie, Jane’s book is fantastic. She is the best writer. It’s always nice to have a nice diversion between innings to look at such as my security person. Our goal is always to make him smile.
Raysfan and Ginny, I encourage Linda to wear that wolf hat sometimes. Funny thing. She was one of the phone calls on Dodger Talk and they told her she should wear it at work and everywhere. Now that is funny.
Jane…two days…your two favorite teams are number one. Aren’t you lucky. Sunscreen for sure. Arrive early. Bring something to autograph and defiinitely your shefan cam and camera.

lol and here I was, wondering if I should wear the hat or not! Well, it’s gonna be a while before I get to go to another one of Randy’s starts. It’s got a pretty good win-loss record so far. And I think the only time Randy got the loss was the one time I didn’t wear it! Baseball is a superstitious sport. LEAVes of Dodger Blue (aka Linda)

Rosie, I am lucky to have my seat in the front. I count my blessings everyday.
Tribechick, the Dodgers play the Reds for one last game.
Matt, thanks for the support. Randy has been great.
Linda, wear your wolf hat to work. You definiitely will be noticed.

CAT
I was reading info on Jane’s book and of course Jane…I have a feeling she might know my boss’s wife. She is also a writer….Her book seems fun.
*
Well I would be happy we seats on the Top Deck (NOT FACING THE SUN). Just the energy in the stadium is electrifying…..Well hopefully our BOYS in BLUE can sweep the REDS…is all about the colors. Billz better bring it ON!

LOL, Cat can tell you … I’m just like her. We don’t like getting our photo taken unless we have a Dodger with us in it. Actually, I’ve been quite lenient about that rule. I’ve been letting one of the Fan Photo guys take my picture lately (mostly because I know him). He got three photos of me with my Wolf hat on. Not sure if my smile is big enough (I don’t give big smiles if I can’t help it)… I’ll have to do a post on my blog of pictures of the Wolf hat. Bluenosedodger … you’ll have to convince Cat first to do the picture!“>http://fallingLEAVes02.mlblogs.com&gt; LEAVes of Dodger Blue (aka Linda)

@hyunyoung – Wolf spent half the season with the Padres where he had a similar season to this year, where he had little run support and got several NDs. Then he was traded to the Astros were he did really well. I think he was under .500 before the trade, and then after the trade his record went up to 12 – 12. He was 6 – 10 with the Padres last year (he had a few games where he deserved the win, but of course ended up with a ND) and then went 6 – 2 with the Astros. When he held his press conference this year to announce he was signing with the Dodgers, he talked about how when he came up with the Phillies, it was after they made the playoffs. He’s on the team, no playoffs. Then when he leaves them, the Phillies go to the playoffs again. He goes to the Dodgers, who had made the playoffs the year before. No playoff while he’s with them (he got hurt that year too). He leaves the team and goes to San Diego (and Astros once he got traded). Dodgers go to the play offs. He jokes about breaking the jinx this year, and what he would do if the Padres or Astros make the playoffs. Well, it looks like he won’t have to worry about the Padres making the playoffs this year.“>http://fallingLEAVes02.mlblogs.com&gt; LEAVes of Dodger Blue (a.k.a. Linda)